Peruvian Americans

Peruvian Americans
Peruanoestadounidenses

Peruvian Ancestry by state
Total population
720,626 (2021)[1][2] 0.21% of the U.S. population (2018)[1]
Regions with significant populations
New Jersey New York City Miami metropolitan area Greater Houston Greater Los Angeles Greater Orlando Washington Metropolitan Area San Francisco Bay Area Metro Detroit
Languages
American English Peruvian Spanish Quechua
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Peruvians, Ecuadorian Americans, Colombian Americans, Bolivian Americans, other Hispanic and Latino Americans

Peruvian Americans are Americans of Peruvian descent.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, as of 2021^[update], 720,626 U.S. residents identify themselves as being of Peruvian origin.^[1] Peruvian Americans are one of the smaller yet culturally unique subgroups of Latinos, making up about 1.1% of the entire Hispanic population in the United States, according to current studies.^[1] Approximately 62% of Peruvian Americans were born in Peru, with a growing population of Peruvian Americans being born in the United States.

Peruvian Americans immigrated to the United States in four major waves. Small but significant waves of immigration occurred in San Francisco during the gold rush (along with Chilean miners beginning in 1848) and the Metro Detroit area in the 1950s. According to historical reports, several Peruvian immigrants in California during the Gold Rush become active in local groups, helping to establish the first Latin American cultural preservation initiatives in the United States. Another wave of immigration occurred again early in the twentieth century, due largely to the burgeoning textile industry in New York and New Jersey. In the 1950s, there were a reported approximate 100 Peruvian families that resided in Paterson, New Jersey.^[3]

Factors that influenced Peruvian emigration was the decrease in employment, political persecution, public insecurity and violence, economic uncertainty, theft, and impunity.^[4] Beginning in the 1970s another wave of Peruvians arrived in the United States, most of whom were fleeing Peru's militaristic government under the dictatorships of Juan Velasco Alvarado and Francisco Morales Bermúdez, both of which were marked by coups and socio-economic instability. The 1980s and 1990s saw the most significant influx of Peruvians to U.S. shores, this time in response to the hyperinflation crisis that plagued the Peruvian economy, internal unrest in Peru by terrorist groups, and an authoritarian government headed by Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori.^[5]

Immigrants often come from urban areas of Peru, especially Lima, and the majority settle in the New York City metropolitan area—particularly in Paterson and Passaic in New Jersey and the New York City borough of Queens. The various settlement patterns have resulted in the formation of regional networks and community groups throughout these urban centers, all of which support the preservation of Peruvian culture.^[5] Peruvian Americans are also clustered in the metropolitan areas of Miami; Los Angeles; Houston, Texas; Washington, D.C.; and Virginia.^[5]

Recently, Peru has enjoyed economic growth and political stability since the start of the millennia. As a result, there has been a decline in the amount of Peruvian immigration to the United States unto 2019 under economic pretenses and instead for education. By 2021, more Peruvian students were attending American colleges, especially those pursuing business and engineering degrees.^[6]